The Arizona Diamondbacks made Andrew McCutchen angry.
In the ninth inning on Saturday night, D-Backs reliever Randall Delgado drilled the Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder with a pitch in what appeared to be retaliation after their All-Star Paul Goldschmidt was accidentally hit in the hand during the previous game. Goldschmidt ended up suffering a fracture in his left hand and was placed on the disabled list.
"I should be thanking them -- now I'm ready to go," McCutchen said after Pittsburgh's blowout win, via MLB.com. "They did what they needed to do. They hit me. It's water under the bridge. So we'll move on. We'll show up tomorrow ready to play and ready to win. Just remember: I don't forget. I'm ready to go now."
Delgado started the at-bat with a 95-mph fastball inside, but it just missed him. After throwing a low off-speed slider with his second pitch, Delgado nailed McCutchen directly in the back with another 95-mph fastball. McCutchen fell down in pain but stayed in the game, while Delgado was immediately ejected. Even Goldschmidt, who was shown standing in the dugout, didn't look pleased with happened.
Neither was McCutchen. After Pittsburgh's 8-3 victory, the 27-year-old called out the D-Backs for waiting until the last inning to hit him.
"Sure it did. I'm sure it did," McCutchen said sarcastically after being told that D-Backs manager Kirk Gibson claimed Delgado's pitch simply got away from him. "Just like the first pitch. I'm sure both of those got away from him ... They had all game to retaliate. They had the first inning to retaliate. They had that first pitch to retaliate and missed. Throw a slider with the second pitch and then throw up and in on the next pitch. Are you trying to hurt me too? That's the question."
If McCutchen goes into MVP-mode and has a dominant rest of the season, the rest of the National League will know what team to thank.